Reporter Mats Lewan of the Ny Teknik magazine has published a book about the cold fusion researcher Andrea Rossi. The book is titled An Impossible Invention. It is available in English, Swedish and Italian. You can read the first chapter or order the book here.

Nobel Laureate Brian Josephson published a comment at Nature.com describing the book:

The highlight of the week was the publication of Mats Lewan’s book ‘An Impossible Invention’, subtitled The true story of the energy source that could change the world. The author, a science and technology writer, has been investigating the controversial Rossi reactor or E-cat in depth in the 3 years since its initial presentation in Bologna in January 2011. . .

Besides following the course of developments in detail, Lewan gives much attention to the question of whether the device is genuine, or whether fraud is involved. One important event was a long-period investigation [by ELFORSK], published at arXiv:1305.3913, providing strong evidence of the production of anomalous heat. . . .

This fascinating book provides the answers to many questions about the E-cat, and should be read by all skeptics.

In his blog about the book, Lewan revealed that the video demonstration test performed by Defkalion Green Technologies during the ICCF18 conference in July 2013 was invalid. The flow rate was measured incorrectly, because the flow meter was affected by backflow. Subsequent tests showed that the meter sometimes measured as much as 1 L/min when the valve was closed and flow was zero. The instruments indicate spurious excess heat of up to 17 kW where the actual power is 2.5 kW.

The video demonstration test was performed in Italy by a join-venture company Defkalion Europe (DE). Luca Gamberale of DE discovered the problems with the test and wrote about them in his Final technical report on the Defkalion GT calorimetric protocol. As described in the report, when DE discovered the problems, they “immediately stopped/froze all negotiations with both Italian and foreign companies to protect their clients.” DE is now defunct.

Cold fusion researcher John O’M Bockis died on July 7, 2013 after a brief illness. He was hospitalized last week. He stayed alert and in good spirits, and was able to say goodbye to his friends and relatives. He was 90 years old.

Researchers from Uppsala University and KTH Stockholm has conducted measurements of the produced heat energy from a device called the E-cat. It is known as an energy catalyst invented by the Italian scientist Andrea Rossi.

The measurements show that the catalyst gives substantially more energy than can be explained by ordinary chemical reactions. The results are very remarkable. What lies behind the extraordinary heat production can not be explained today. There has been speculation over whether there can be any form of nuclear transformation. However, this is highly questionable. To learn more about what is going on you have to learn what is happening with the fuel and the waste it produces. The measurements have been funded by such Elforsk.

Here is the abstract from this paper:

An experimental investigation of possible anomalous heat production in a special type of reactor tube named E-Cat HT is carried out. The reactor tube is charged with a small amount of hydrogen loaded nickel powder plus some additives. The reaction is primarily initiated by heat from resistor coils inside the reactor tube. Measurement of the produced heat was performed with high-resolution thermal imaging cameras, recording data every second from the hot reactor tube. The measurements of electrical power input were performed with a large bandwidth three phase power analyzer. Data were collected in two experimental runs lasting 96 and 116 hours, respectively. An anomalous heat production was indicated in both experiments.

COLUMBIA, Mo. ­— University of Missouri Vice Chancellor for Research Rob Duncan has announced that Graham K. Hubler, a nuclear physicist who worked for the Naval Research Laboratory for 40 years, has been named director of the Sidney Kimmel Institute for Nuclear Renaissance (SKINR) at Missouri University.

The Scientific American published another attack on cold fusion, Ouellette, J., Genie in a Bottle: The Case Against Cold Fusion, in Scientific American. 2012. The author ignores the scientific literature and looks instead at movies, popular culture and mythology surrounding the 1989 announcement. She concludes that cold fusion does not exist.

In the on-line discussion of this article, the author allowed only skeptical arguments against cold fusion. She erased all rebuttals, and all messages supporting it, including: proof that many scientists support the research; that the effect has been widely replicated; and that over a thousand peer-reviewed papers on the subject have been published in mainstream journals. Finally, she erased messages quoting the editors of the Scientific American, and a message saying that peer-reviewed replicated experiments are the standard of truth in experimental science, which cited the Chairman of the Indian AEC and other distinguished scientists.

To paraphrase Marx, the opposition to cold fusion began as a tragedy and it is ending as a farce.

Edmund Storms wrote this response to this column:

The scientific proof supporting the claims made by Fleischmann and Pons is now overwhelming. This is not the opinion of a “handful of diehard supporters” but of several major universities and corporations. The information is easily obtained at LENR.org and in many books written about the history and the science. We are no longer in 1990 when the claims were in doubt and many people attempted to replicate them, some with success. Many of the reasons for success and failure are now known. An explanation for the phenomenon is being developed and claims are being demonstrated for commercial-level power. Surely a writer for a magazine as important as Scientific American would know these facts and not continue using the myth that was created before the facts were known.

The author first erased it, but later restored it, adding, “With all due respect to Dr. Storms, I stand by my post.” She erased several messages from many different contributors. Here are two by Jed Rothwell:

If you are going to quote Robert Park, it seems to me you owe it to your audience to quote him when he brags publicly that he has never read a single paper. That is what he has said, repeatedly. He said it to a large crowd of people at the APS. If you do not believe me, ask him yourself. It is misleading to quote him as some sort of expert when he brags about the fact that he knows nothing.

The editors of the Scientific American also told me that they have read no papers on this subject, because ‘reading papers is not our job.’ Their assertions about cold fusion are also technically wrong. I published their comments here: http://lenr-canr.org/wordpress/?p=294

[Quoting a skeptical attack] Cude wrote: “I’m not aware of a single major university that has expressed the opinion that evidence for the claims of P&F is overwhelming.”

Hundreds of other distinguished experts in nuclear physics and other related disciplines have said they are certain cold fusion is real. They know this because they have conducted experiments and detected the reaction at high signal to noise ratios, and their experiments have survived rigorous peer-review. That is the only way anyone ever knows anything for sure in science. Replicated, high sigma experiments are the only standard of truth.

On August 6 – 9 National Instrument held its annual global conference on graphical system design, NIWeek 2012.

NI’s cofounder, President, and CEO, Dr. James Truchard kicked off the week with a 19-minute presentation, available on YouTube. Starting at minute 15, he described NI’s projects relating to cold fusion. He was strongly supportive of cold fusion. He pointed out that several leading cold fusion researchers are attending the conference.

These researchers gave presentations during the conference, which were reportedly well received. Francesco Celani, of Frascati Lab. ENEA, brought a demonstration cell to the conference which was left running the entire time, apparently producing excess heat. Celani will bring the demonstration to ICCF17 next week. He has written a new paper about it for ICCF17.